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September 5, 2012

Brutal Honesty

I marvel at how easy it is to involve oneself in pettiness... or at least imbibe the fruits of pettiness... which is no more than a little piece of rottenness. I'm beginning to think that pettiness is the devil's real tool. I can see a new chapter to the Screw Tape Letters which may start something like:
Ha! Ha! Ha! Get them to think that these little things are truly what is real, truly what is important. It will destroy even the most virtuous! (insert evil laugh)

How often we do not accuse ourselves in or out of the confessional, but yet so often we do nothing more than excuse ourselves even in these little things. To accuse oneself and to excuse our neighbor with great mercy! Our parish priest mentioned a term in his homily on Sunday.. "brutal honesty". Imagine if we all went into the confessional with brutal honesty (toward self... and mercy towards others). Here I am Lord to accuse myself in brutal honesty. Ouch.

St. Teresa of Jesus says, "We may not be [angels or saints]; but what a good thing it is for us to
reflect that we can be if we will only try, and if God gives us His hand!"
(Way 16) The saint strongly insists that those who have dedicated
themselves to the spiritual life should not nourish petty desires, but generous
ones, nor should they fear to emulate the saints; she affirms with authority, "I
have never seen any courageous person hanging back on this road, nor any soul
that, under the guise of humility, acted like a coward, go as far in many years
as the courageous soul can in a few" (Life, 13)Divine Intimacy
#289Let's let Our Blessed Mother teach us the path, the great path, the magnanimous path... do great things while remaining hidden. All we need to say is "Be it done unto me according to Thy Word." In that there is no room for pettiness... only for great love. And the fruit of such love is Christ.